ISL 2029-20 | Proud of way my players fought for the draw, praises Sergio Lobera
FC Goa's head coach Sergio Lobera has praised his player after the 10-men Gaurs equalized the game with a late strike to make it 2-2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Sunday in Kochi. The Spanish coach then shared his thoughts on the late goals in ISL and stated his views on Kerala Blasters.
ISL witnessed its sixth consecutive draw in the last six matches and this time 10-men Goa escaped with a point against a dominating Kerala Blasters for 2-2 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday. Kerala took the lead in the second minute through Sergio Cidocha but Goa found back one through Mourtada Fall in the 41st minute. However, after Fall was given marching orders in the 52nd minute, Messi Bouli again put Kerala ahead in the 59th minute.
Despite dominating the game Kerala could not stop a late equalizer from Lenny Rodriguez to make the game 2-2.
“When four players (Ahmed Jahouh, Ferran Corominas, Hugo Boumous and Seiminlen Doungel) are missing, it makes it very difficult. But I am very proud of the players who played today. They made a big effort to get one point which is very important for us,” Sergio Lobera told reporters at the postmatch conference, ISL website reported.
Goa could not control the game in the first half and the coach terms it as the worst first-half performance he has seen as the Goan coach “I think the first-half was the worst first-half performance I have seen in my three seasons as FC Goa coach. We didn’t have the possession we didn’t keep the ball, and because of this, the opponents were able to create chances. We were lucky to go to the dressing room 1-1 in the first-half.” Lobera said.
However, the coach hailed his players for their spirited performance in the second half “In the second-half, I think the team improved a lot. We played better than the opponent team, but the red card to Fall made it difficult to play the same way.” Lobera added.
The Spanish coach who is his third year with Goa spoke about the late goals ISL witnessing recently. And revealed why conditions in India difficult for foreign players. “I think it’s all about the resistance. I told before the start of the league that in India, it’s difficult with the weather and everything. For the Indian players its good because they are adapted to the weather conditions, but for the foreign players, it’s hard to work with the weather, two times daily. You can see how many foreign players are injured, and many players are tired by the end of the match.
"And when they are tired, they make mistakes, but this is just my opinion. For my team, the most important thing is that they believed till the end. I need this attitude from my players to believe in themselves.” Lobera said.
The Spanish coach then went on to speak about their opponents Kerala Blasters and opined where the southern team fails. “Kerala have made many good signings. They got last season’s top scorer (Bartholomew) Ogbeche, Jamshedpur’s best players last season (Sergio) Cidoncha and Mario Arques. They also signed the best player from Delhi (Dynamos), Gianni Zuiverloon. The club have done a big effort to build a great team. They are a team built to win the league. The have very good players but it’s not working well as a team.” Lobera concluded.
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